Forever...
by Karumi
Summary: Zidane stayed behind at the Iifa tree and Garnet is having second thoughts about leaving him. But what will convince her to go back? FINISHED! now with epilogue.
1. Going back

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Forever…

by Karumi

Author's notes: This is an A/U fic and my first for FFIX. It's also angsty; so you've been warned.

Disclaimer: All FFIX characters belong to Squaresoft.

Garnet looked down toward Zidane as the Hilda Garde flew far away from the Iifa Tree. She wanted to jump out; to be with him; but deep in her heart she knew she'd just get in the way. So instead she just stood there, staring at the tree for a while, twirling the chain of her necklace between her fingers. As the Iifa Tree became a dot far in the distance Garnet suddenly heard the explosions booming from it. Her heart skipped a beat as she cover her mouth with her right hand and a single thought escaped her mind "_Zidane__…_"

"Are you alright Dagger?" Eiko asked softly closing the door behind her.

Garnet wiped the few tears that had escaped her eyes with the back of her hand "I'm fine Eiko; it's just that…did you hear something just now?"

"Err, no; why?" Eiko asked slightly confused by the question.

"It's nothing, don't worry, I was just… wondering." Garnet lied "Did you need something?" Garnet said, quickly changing the subject.

"Oh…" Eiko exclaimed caught by surprise "no; its just that the others prepared some coffee downstairs and they were wondering if you wanted some?"

"_Coffee?!_" the offer of the stimulant made Garnet ten times more tired than she already was. "You know what Eiko? I rather take a nap; can you please tell the others?" asked Garnet.

"Sure, no problem." answered Eiko.

"Thanks for the offer anyway" said Garnet as she went to her chambers leaving a mildly confused Eiko on the deck of the Hilda Garde.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Garnet walked slowly with uneasy steps. She didn't know were she was; it appeared to be a city or at least it had been at one point in time. But all that was left now were piles of rubble and the feeling of sadness all around. Yet the place felt oddly familiar; a feeling Garnet didn't like very much. She kept walking until she reached the shore of a body of water, maybe a lake once, unrecognizable now with all the mud and dirt. "_Is this a dream? __…__Am I dreaming? __…__But it feels so real_."

Garnet looked around the lake for any signs of life as the wind blew in her face and caressed her hair. She was about to return to the deserted town when far up ahead she saw what looked like a small hilltop and what appeared to be a person standing on its top. Her hopes raised, she quickly looked around the around the lake; she saw what was left of a small rowboat that still appeared to be floatable and without thinking it twice got on and started rowing towards the small island. She was determined to ask whoever was there all the questions that were burning in her chest. _Where was she? What happened to this place? _And probably the most important of all_, where was everyone?_ Garnet paddle as fast as she could and after what seem like half an hour she finally reached the other side and was off the boat and into the water in a matter of seconds. 

Garnet froze at the bottom of the hill looking up towards it; the person was still there. She could see him/her better now; it was taller than her but she could still not see him/her well since it had a black hood on. And now that she was closer, there was something disturbing about the scene in front of her; there was a big lump on the floor in front of the mysterious person. It had an awfully abnormal shape; in a way it almost looked like… a body. Garnet started up the hill with steady steps but as she got closer and closer to the figure on the top and the strange lump on the ground, a sense of foreboding filled her spirit. But why? This person could be the answer to all her questions; so why was she so…afraid. 

"Excuse me…?" murmured Garnet, yet she was positive the person had heard her.

"Umm…could you please tell me where I am? my name is…"

"I know who you are" interrupted the person; with such smoothness that Garnet gave a step back.

**_"_****_That voice_****_…"_****__**

_ _

"You are Garnet Till Alexandros the 17th…"

**_"…_****_it can_****_'_****_t be, it_****_'_****_s impossible_****_"_****__**

_ _

"…Queen of Alexandria; Queen…of all this you see."

**_"_****_NO!_****_…_****_no no no no no no no. _**Garnet raised both her hands to her mouth as she stared at the barren land that was once her home.

**_"_****_This has to be a dream it just has to be_****_"_****__**

"Dreams are mysterious things your highness…they might try to tell you something." Said the figure in front of her as it reached for her.

"Don't touch me!" screamed Garnet as she slapped Kuja's hand away. "Stay away from me!"

"As you wish, but what's done its done…" said Kuja returning to the top of the hill to stare at nothing.

Garnet took a few moments to regain control of her emotions and to clear her head enough, so she could think straight again. She loathed the man in front of her; because of him her kingdom was in ruins, because of him her mother was dead; and because of him Zidane had stayed behind at the Iifa tree. But Garnet would not cry; she refused to…she would never show him weakness. "What do you mean…what's done its done?"

"Are you sure this is a dream?" retorted Kuja, changing his view from the barren landscape to the lump on the ground. 

"Stop! With the mind games" cried Garnet. "You're not making any sense"

"Am I supposed to?" he said with an obvious mischief in his voice as he kept starring at the lump.

Garnet have had it, she was getting nowhere; the only thing she had gained from the conversation was a headache. He wasn't even paying attention to her. "Fine, then" she said after a few moments and turned to leave. She had her back at him when he finally spoke.

"Loss is a painful thing; yet one must learn to live with it. Death you see…is a part of life. Death is all I know; I was created for it; it is my birthright; yet I have never known what loss feels like…until now. I didn't care for anyone and nobody cared for me. But it's not like that anymore and because of it I now know what loss feels like."

Garnet took a deep breath and closed her eyes after he finished. He still made no sense. She turned around to look at him and saw that he was still starring at the lump. She closed her eyes again as she tried to find something rational to say. Once she reopened them again, she couldn't believe her eyes…Kuja was gone; only the lump on the ground remained. Garnet took a step closer to it, curiosity beating rational thinking. And then it hit her; Kuja had been staring at the lump the entire; his words were directed at it _"…__I know now what loss feels like.__"_ Each step got her closer to it and the sense of foreboding was back. Her heart beat faster with each step and it almost stopped when she was three steps away from it and saw a human hand sticking out of the mass of black. It took only a second for Garnet to come out of shock and rushed to the side of the person lying there. She fell to her knees beside it, took its head in her arms and removed the hood to check if the person was still alive.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's note: Who is the mystery person? What happened to everyone in the Hilda Garde? And most important of all, shall I continue this story? Little reviews make a sad Karumi and sadness is not good for my creativity and/or imagination. So please review and tell me what you think of my story. Thanks for reading ^_^


	2. Reality

Forever…

Forever…

by Karumi

Author's note: The second part of my fic 2/3. Hope you enjoy reading it, as much as I enjoy writing and if you can please review. Thanks! ^_^

Disclaimer: all FFIX characters belong to Squaresoft.

Garnet felt as her chest began to burn and her eyes started to watered. She check the pulse again for what seem like the twentieth time; yet she knew the result would be the same.

Zidane was dead in her arms; and there was nothing she could do about it. The realization of this made her cry even more. She looked at Zidane's face; it was a little dirty and his eyes were close, besides that, he didn't have a scratch on him. Garnet tried to stop the tears from coming out; it hurt so much.

She still hadn't question herself how she felt about Zidane, she knew she cared about him and that he was someone she could trust…but did she loved him? She didn't know…and still losing him was the worst feeling she had ever had. She didn't even notice the storm behind her. She softly laid Zidane's head on the ground and started to take deep breaths trying to calm down. The thunder behind her just roared louder.

~*~*~

"Your Highness! Queen Garnet!" The guard yelled, as he knocked harder on Garnet's bedroom. He'd been trying to get a response from her for the past five minutes, she wasn't responding; so he knocked even harder.

"Your Highness, are you all right?!"

Garnet woke up with a start; she was agitated and out of breathe. She tried to focus her mind on her surroundings. She was in her bedroom, safe and someone was knocking very hard on the door. "Yes? Who is it?" She called as calmly as possible.

"It's crew member Pier, your highness, I'm here to inform you that we have arrive to our destination; and that we are currently in the process of disembarking." He finished waiting for a response from her. 

Garnet took a moment for her brain to process the information just given to her. "Thank you Pier, you may return to your post now." Garnet answered a little more calm now. She could hear Pier's footsteps as he left. She straighten up and sat on the right side of her bed. _"__It was all a dream__…__a nightmare,__"___she thought to herself. She remembered it all …Alexandria…Kuja…Zidane…and most of all, the pain of losing him. She stood slowly, her mind was raging, even though there was only one though; _"__it was only a dream__…__it was only a dream__…__it was only a dream.__"___

She grabbed a tissue from the drawer and wiped her sweat away. She couldn't get the dream out of her mind it was all she could think about; and why had she dreamt it in the first place. _Kuja_…"Dreams…mysterious things…try to tell you something"; _"__what did he mean by that__"__._

Garnet put both her hands on her face, massaging her eyelids wit her fingertips. She couldn't think straight. Then a though came to her, an idea; she turned off the lamp and rushed to the main deck.

~*~*~

When Garnet arrived at the main deck, she looked around, but found no signs of the captain. She walked over to the nearest crewmember "Excuse me?" she tapped the man on the shoulder, making him turn almost instantly towards her. 

"Your majesty!..how…how may I help you?" the young man said, obviously nervous.

"Yes, is the captain on board?" she asked trying to disguise the hurry in her voice. "No, your highness; but I'm stand in captain…Captain Taylor; how may I be of service?" Garnet gave a sigh of relief when she received the young captain's news. Looking around she noticed only two other members of the crew at the main deck. "How many people are left on board?" she asked; she was getting a little impatient now. "Only the people in this room your highness," he replied.

_"__Perfect__"_ Garnet though. "Captain, inform your men that we are departing with the crew on board." She ordered turning around in the direction of her chambers. "But, your highness…" Taylor protested, regretting his words the moment he said them. Garnet turned halfway around "can you fly this airship with the crew on board?" she asked. Taylor didn't hesitate "Yes, your majesty; certainly." Garnet smiled to herself. "Then I want this airship on the air in five minutes captain; understood?" He didn't protest this time "yes, your highness" he said and stated to yelled orders at the other crewmembers left on the Hilda Garde.

Garnet had managed to walk a few steps before he spoke again "Destination, your highness?" Garnet swallowed, she had made up her mind…"the Iifa Tree."

~*~*~

That's it for chapter 2. I was gonna finish the entire story, but I'm in the process of moving (plus summer school) and it would have been a while before I could finished it. So I divided it in 3 chapters. I'll try to have the last chapter as soon as possible. Thanks! for reading and happy 4th of July! ^_^__


	3. A promise

Forever…

Forever…

by Karumi

Author's notes: Last chapter. This is it 3/3. Much thanks to all that reviewed they have been the force behind me finishing this story, Thanks! ^_^

Disclaimer: FFIX belongs to Squaresoft. Besides the only thing I own is my cat…and he likes to bite.

Garnet stepped out of the Hilda Garde. She had told Captain Taylor and the rest of the crew to stay on board; that she'd be back in around two hours or so and that if she wasn't they had her permission to search for her. Besides; she wanted to go alone, the nightmare was still fresh in her mind; especially how real it felt. 

Garnet looked around at the sight before her…rocks, dirt, leaves…the explosion that she had heard from the Hilda Garde…the tree had exploded. 

_"This can't be real"_ the sight looked just like it did in the dream. It was overwhelming _"but in the dream it was Alexandria, not this place…it doesn't make any sense." _Garnet grabbed her necklace with her right hand, took a deep breath and headed forward.

~*~*~

Garnet stared down at the center of the tree; she had been searching around for the past forty minutes and had found nothing. It looked as if half the tree had been sucked down into the earth. It was the only place she hadn't searched. She took off her necklace, her rings and anything else that might bother her; she took hold of a nearby branch and started descending slowly. It was very much easier than it looked there were branches everywhere that helped her in her descend. It only took her five minutes to reach the bottom. It wasn't as dark as she'd thought it'll be. The mist residue had left some sort of natural light that illuminated the place. It wasn't dark; but it sure was eerie. 

Garnet tried to make her way trough the rubble, but it was very hard; she had almost tripped twice already. All she could hear was her steps and her breath; everything else was silence…and the something else…

"Hello; is someone there?" Garnet asked out loud. Only the strange sound was the one that replied. "Who is there?" Garnet turned her head in every direction possible. She started walking backwards; she had no idea where the noise was coming from…until she tripped. 

Garnet lay on her back; she turned to one side supporting her weight with both her hands. She looked towards her feet to see what made her fall. Her eyes went wide open…the white shirt, the blue vest, the golden hair…_NO! _

"Oh my god! Zidane!" Garnet removed all the bits of rock that were covering Zidane. She then put his head on her lap "Zidane? ZIDANE!" He didn't even flinch. "Oh God! This can't be happening…_it was only a dream…" _

_ _

"Dagger?…is that you?" 

_"Wha…"_ Garnet looked down to see Zidane with a small grin on his face. "Oh Zidane! Your okay, for a second I thought…I thought…" Garnet tried to finish the sentence but couldn't; she was so happy and Zidane could see it in her face.

"What are you doing here…I thought I told you…"

"I couldn't leave you" Garnet interrupted "so I came back for you."

Zidane smiled at her as he stared into her brown eyes. 

"C'mon;" Garnet said "let's get you out here." 

"That sounds like a good idea" said Zidane. Garnet grabbed Zidane's left arm and pushed him up so he could stand.

**"AAARRRGGGHHH!" **

Garnet quickly put Zidane back on the ground as he screamed. "What is it, what's wrong?" She asked never letting go of his arm. "I don't know; it's my back…it…it hurts when I move" Zidane said between grunts. "Let me see…" Garnet said; helping him to turn over so she could take a good look at his back. 

Garnet bit her lower lip when she saw Zidane's back. Almost his entire back was covered in blood. "Take off your vest Zidane" Garnet said holding back tears. She tossed the blood-covered vest aside and lifted Zidane's shirt so she could see the wound. Garnet closed her eyes at the sight of the wound; Zidane had a hole in his back, bigger than Garnet's thumb and apparently it had reopened when Zidane tried to stand up. She didn't know what to say to him, she didn't know what to do.

"Dagger?" Zidane's voice was calm. 

"It's okay Dagger, you don't have to tell me. I can feel it…I'm dying Dagger" 

Garnet softly helped Zidane to lie on his back again and once more put his head on her lap. "Don't say that…please". Garnet felt the warm tears on her cheeks as Zidane closed his eyes. She did too and when she opened them she saw a solution. Zidane's dagger lay before her. It was inviting her. Garnet stretched out her hand and grabbed the dagger by its handle. She stared at it for a few seconds.

"What are you doing Dagger?" Garnet almost dropped the dagger at the sound of Zidane's voice. She looked down at his eyes; she knew what to say…"I had a dream Zidane, a nightmare…you died in that dream Zidane. It was the most horrible pain I've ever felt…a pain I don't want to feel again." Zidane put his hand over Garnet's and squeezed it.

"So instead your giving up…I had a dream too Dagger; that you and I were together in a beautiful place where no one bothered us. I know now where that place was…it was heaven; the place where I'll wait for you…forever…" 

Garnet held Zidane's hand with both of hers. She had drooped the dagger.

"I need you to be strong Dagger, for me, for you, for the both of us. And in the meanwhile I'll wait for you; this is my new promise Dagger; I can't keep the old one." Zidane raised his free hand and softly touched Garnet under her chin. "So promise me please…promise you'll be strong for me?" Garnet didn't even mind the tears anymore. "I promise…I promise I'll be strong for you. I know why it hurts so much now…I've fallen in love with you…I love you Zidane." Zidane extended his touch from her chin to her cheek. "I love you too…"

~*~*~

Everyone was silent at the funeral, especially Beatrix. Everyone had been told that Zidane had died when the tree exploded and that his body was found by a rescue crew under her majesty's orders. Only Beatriz knew that it was because of a dream that the queen had returned to the tree; and that Zidane had died in her arms. 

Garnet stayed behind after the ceremony ended and everyone except Beatrix had left. She stood before the gravestone with a white rose in her hands.

"Are you all right your highness?" Beatrix asked softly, putting a comforting hand on Garnet's shoulder.

"I'm fine Beatrix, could you please wait for me at the castle?" Garnet replied never letting her sight off the gravestone.

"As you wish your highness." Said Beatrix removing her hand from Garnet's shoulder and retreating to the castle.

Garnet stood there silently for a few minutes until she was sure she was alone.

"Hey…I brought you something." She said twirling the white rose between her fingers. 

"Everyone's being so supportive, they've been a real help. But I didn't stay to tell you that. I came to tell you that I'm being strong and that I'll keep being strong; I'll keep my promise Zidane…because I know you'll keep yours." Garnet smiled at herself as she softly put the rose in front of the gravestone and read it. 

"Goodbye"

~*~*~

Zidane Tribal

_ _

_Hero_

_Friend_

Loved one 

_ _

_In our hearts_

_Forever…_

_ _

_ _

~*~*~

FIN

Author's note: That's it. I reread it and almost cried…I had this fic in my mind for a while and I'm glad its out. I also started writing an epilogue for it; which will hopefully see the light of day someday. It's been fun C' ya! ^_^ 


	4. Epilogue

Forever…

Forever…

Epilogue

by Karumi

Author's note: Here's the epilogue. I had the story all planned a long time ago. This surfaced in my mind as I was writing it. Please review, it only takes a minute ^_^

Disclaimer: Same as all the others. All FFIX characters belong to Squaresoft.

Garnet stood in front of the gravestone. She had a small paper in her hands.

"Hi…It's been almost 4 years now. I wrote something for you. It was suppose to be a poem; but it doesn't rhyme…so it's just something all right? Here goes…"

**"I come here to you today**

**_Because today I'm getting married_**

**_ _**

**_You don't know him_**

**_You've never met him_**

**_But in the past year _**

**_I've grown to care for him…even love him_**

**_ _**

**_Yet he will never replace you in my heart_**

**_I still love you_**

**_I will never stop loving you_**

**_ _**

**_Your last words to me where "I love you"_**

**_I'm glad I got to hear it_**

**_And I'm glad I got to say it_**

**_ _**

**_Our first and last kiss came after those words_**

**_And then you left this world_**

**_ _**

**_You died in my arms with a smile on your face_**

**_You were never afraid_**

**_But in the contrary I was_**

**_ _**

**_I was afraid I couldn't keep my promise_**

**_ _**

**_Not reaching for your dagger after you died_**

**_Was one of the hardest things I ever had to do_**

**_ _**

**_Because when you left me_**

**_I wanted to join you_**

**_So we could be together_**

**_ _**

**_But you told me to stay_**

**_To be strong_**

**_ _**

**_So I'm being strong_**

**_I've kept my promise_**

**_ _**

**_One day I'll join you_**

**_And when that day comes_**

**Nothing will keep us apart**

**_ _**

**_But until that day comes_**

**_ _**

**_I'll keep on living_**

**_I'm living for the both of us."_**__

Garnet folded the small paper, gave it a light kiss and left it in front of the gravestone. As she left a light breeze went past her. She paused, closed her eyes and smiled. After a moment she climbed on the rowboat that would take her back to the castle. 

The breeze had carried her a message…_"I love you too."_

~*~*~

Author's note: Complete story "_check"_, epilogue _"check"_. I'm done. That's it. Now it's really over. 

Very much thanks again to all that reviewed they've been real supportive. Arigatou! ^_^ 

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